Civilization runs on energy, and energy flows through civilization. It's an exchange at the most fundamental level.

Take ancient Egypt or Rome—these empires captured and controlled energy sources, primarily through agriculture. Food was energy. Slaves and labor systems were mechanisms to harness it. For most people in these societies, trade didn't use coined money; it was direct value exchange—one form of stored energy for another.

This same principle underlies today's digital economy. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks operate as energy-to-value converters. Mining requires computational power (energy expenditure), and tokens represent captured and transferable value. Just as grain was once the primary store of value for civilizations, digital assets now serve as modern repositories of economic energy.

The mechanism hasn't fundamentally changed—only the medium.